Areas to study include:
> how the different modes and language associated with different media forms communicate multiple meanings
> how the combination of elements of media language influence meaning
> how developing technologies affect media language
> the codes and conventions of media forms and products, including the processes through which media language develops as genre
> the dynamic and historically relative nature of genre
> the processes through which meanings are established through intertextuality
> how audiences respond to and interpret the above aspects of media language.
Similar to film you will analyse music videos through the four micro elements:
> Mise-en scene
> Camera work Cinematography
> Editing
> Sound
Stereotype production is based on:
> Simplification
> Exaggeration or distortion
> Generalisation
> Presentation of cultural attributes as being 'natural'.
WHAT GENERAL STEREOTYPES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH WOMEN? LIST 3 THINGS.
> Domestication (women seen as housewives and cooks for the male gender)
> Dress in a feminine way (dresses, skirts, high heels) for the benefit of the male - sexualisation.
> Does not have the same strength as men.
WHAT STEREOTYPES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH WOMEN IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY? LIST 3 THINGS.
> Sexualisation, provocative costume in videos and when performing live (Possibly to attract the opposite sex)
> To look perfect (weight, dress size, beauty, cosmetic surgery)
> Sing about love and other emotional issues within a relationship.
In Advertising and Magazines, women are shown as:
> Young
> Slim
> Overwhelmingly white
> Conforming to our image of ideal beauty (perfect skin, hair and alluring gaze).
Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following:
> beauty (within narrow conventions)
> size/physique (again, within narrow conventions)
> sexuality (as expressed by the above)
> emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings
> relationships (as opposed to independence/ freedom)
Women have often suffered from a Narrow set of representations in the media. They are often linked to the domestic situation.
> Women as housewives or mothers.
> OR as sex objects (sexualised and objectified) represented to entertain and titillate the male
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her unconventionality and provocative work as well as experimenting with new images. A lot of her music and videos portray a counter-stereotypical view of women and how they are usually depicted in the media. In a lot of her videos, she is provocative and deviant in the way that she acts and the way that she dresses to portray this counter-stereotype and to show the sexualisation of women.
Born this Way video
- Female roles are challenged in the 'Born this Way' music video, gender stereotypes are also challenged. (female roles = virgin, mother, whore).
- Could be about body image, and accepting yourself.
- Surreal, abstract music video - not conventional.
- intertextual references (Hitchcock style music)
Telephone video
- Product placement
- Deviant behaviour
- Intertextual references to Kill Bill (car used)
- Counter-stereotype of women and their usual behaviour.
- Strong women, alternate view of women.
Million Reasons - Lady Gaga
An accompanying music video for "Million Reasons" was directed by Ruth Hogben and Andrea Gelardin, who had also helmed the video for the previous single, "Perfect Illusion". Gaga announced that the music video for "Million Reasons" would be a continuation of that for "Perfect Illusion".
This particular still from the music video shows the stereotypical view that women are usually damsels in distress and emotional. Her hands are on her head and she is lying on the floor, which connotes vulnerability and distress. It also shows the fragility of some women, which is another stereotype of women.
This particular still from the music video shows the stereotypical view that all women need makeup to look beautiful and that all women need to conform to the stereotype where all women need to wear makeup. This could also hint at the sexualisation of women in the music industry and in the media. The costume that she is wearing is not too revealing, but show femininity, another stereotype within the media when representing women.
This particular still from the music video could show a counter-stereotype of how women are portrayed in the media. The fact that she is wearing a suit connotes masculinity which in turn connotes strength. She has made it feminine by adding the suit in pink. Suits are not something that women wear traditionally, showing the counter-stereotypes of women in the music industry. She is also playing the guitar, which could show that she is strong and independent.
Discuss how Lady Gaga uses the iconic representation of the cowboy as a counter-stereotype representation of femininity?
Lady Gaga uses the iconic representation of the cowboy as a counter-stereotype representation of femininity due to the fact that traditionally, the premise of a cowboy is a powerful and strong individual, who is able to be independent. Lady Gaga dressed in a way similar to a cowboy suggest that she is also a powerful and strong individual who has her own independence. This shows a counter-stereotype in which females are equivalent in strength, power and independence to that of males. A cowboy is also a symbol of America, which when thought about, is predominantly male. She is challenging this stereotype by dressing similarly to a cowboy to suggest that females are also able to become a symbol of a strong America.
In what way is the representation of an all female crew a counter-stereotype representation of the media industry.
Having an all female crew is a counter-stereotype representation of the media industry as traditionally, people would usually have a predominantly male crew in order to maximise the safety of the individual in the music industry. However, Lady Gaga is breaking that stereotype and demonstrating a counter-stereotype by portraying a group of women protecting her and keeping her safe, which is not the norm within the music and media industry.
In what way is the video depicting the musician as a musician on the road, representing the drudgery behind the glamour of performance?
The video is depicting life as a musician on the road as less glamorous and hard work, as many people in the music industry have to travel a significant amount of times around the world. The fact that Lady Gaga has a solemn look on her face in the SUV shows that she may find it difficult sometimes to have to travel a lot, and that it is not a glamorous life all of the time, which is a misrepresentation of work in the media industry.
This particular shot shows an aspect of damsel in distress and emotional. Her hands are on her head and she is lying on the floor, which connotes vulnerability and distress. It also shows the fragility of some women, which is another stereotype of women. The fact that this shot is a high angle shot could suggest the power than the fame and the media industry have over her and how this affects her emotions and feelings. Propp's theory is that within a story, there are certain characters such as the hero (male), villain and princess (female). In this particular music video, Gaga is presented as the princess in this story in some way as she shows herself lying on the ground with the camera angle from a high angle shot, emphasising her vulnerability and distress.
Identify key aspects of the text which represent Gaga within the narrow conventions of music videos “a young and conventionally attractive, star”
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Billie Jean is an example of a historically significant music video. The video was one of the very first videos on MTV to feature a black artist and be aired on regular rotation by the channel. The video’s immense popularity helped bring MTV into the mainstream and breakthrough racial barriers on TV networks and helped propel the album ‘Thriller’ to the bestselling album of all time.
Discuss aspects of the video which present Jackson as a music/video innovator.
Research:
> Jackson's all-encompassing appeal was something that had never happened before in the history of pop music: Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beatles were preposterously famous in their time, but their appeal was still basically limited to white people. Michael Jackson, during his Thriller LP era, had everybody talking about him.
> Cute and cuddly as front man/child for the Jackson Five, Jackson had been trying for several years to reintroduce himself to a public that was ill prepared to view him as anything other than a charming has-been. To shatter this perception, Jackson created the flashy, enigmatic, vaguely dangerous persona who appeared in Billie Jean, Beat It and Bad. At a time when most music videos were either primitive or stupid, Jackson made a video that was clever, original, visually opulent and mysterious.
> It was the first time that a song had been upstaged by the performance of a song, creating a peculiar situation where no one really had any interest in hearing the song unless they could simultaneously watch the song being performed.
> It was recorded on a specially designed set to capture the muted sound of the snare drum that Jackson insisted upon. It was produced by the legendary Quincy Jones, who wanted Jackson to change the name of the song and also to shorten the improbably lengthy 29-second introduction, during which Jackson does not actually sing.
> This song is about a girl who claimed that Jackson was the father of her child. Jackson based it on a woman who used to stalk him, writing him letters about a son she thought was his. Jackson rarely spoke about this woman, but he had a very hard time dealing with this unwanted attention, and he became more reclusive as a result. The song was his way of expressing his feelings without addressing her directly.
> According to Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 songs, Jackson came up with the song's rhythm track on his home drum machine and nailed the vocals in one take.
> Jackson's "Billie Jean" video was the first to make heavy rotation, and more black faces started appearing on the network soon after, notably Prince. MTV was accused of racism in this era, notably by Rick James, whose "Super Freak" clip was rejected by the network.
> Directed by Steve Barron, who also directed Electric Dreams, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Coneheads.
Representation: Teenage Star, love, romance
Discuss aspects of the video’s (media language) present Jackson as an American Teenage Star/Heart throb.
Identify key aspects of the text which represent Gaga within the narrow conventions of music videos “a young and conventionally attractive, star”
Links to religion and getting through difficult circumstances, using the rosary as a way of getting through.
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Billie Jean is an example of a historically significant music video. The video was one of the very first videos on MTV to feature a black artist and be aired on regular rotation by the channel. The video’s immense popularity helped bring MTV into the mainstream and breakthrough racial barriers on TV networks and helped propel the album ‘Thriller’ to the bestselling album of all time.
THE
SHORT FILM
Director:
Steve Barron
Primary
Production Location: Los Angeles, California
Michael
Jackson's short film for "Billie Jean" was the first of three short
films produced for recordings from Thriller, which continues its reign as the
biggest selling album of all time with worldwide sales in excess of 105 million
as of June 1, 2016 and in December, 2015 became the first ever album to be
awarded triple diamond status by the RIAA for US sales alone. The "Billie
Jean" single reached No. 1 in 10 countries in the spring of 1983,
including seven consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 - becoming the
second-highest selling single in America that same year.
The
short film featured a paparazzo attempting to photograph Jackson as he danced
through an urban landscape. A specially created set featured steps and sidewalk
tiles that lit up underneath Michael's feet. It is here that fans first saw
some of Michael's best-known dance moves, such as spinning and landing on his
toes. Many of Michael's steps and mannerisms in the video would become forever
associated with The King of Pop.
The
"Billie Jean" short film made history as the first video by a black
artist to be played in heavy rotation on MTV, then in its second year. In 1992,
the short film was inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame. MTV
ranked "Billie Jean" as the 35th greatest music video of all time in
1999, one of three entries of Jackson's on the chart alongside
"Thriller" and "Beat It."
Historical, social and cultural contexts
On
August
1st, 1981, Music Television (MTV) was launched and although segregation legally
ended in 1964, some 17 years before, MTV would only offer airplay to white rock
artists.
First
Video “Video Killed the Radio Star”
The
new revolutionary format suffered an inertia of mindset with the early
video-presenters reflecting the segregated tastes of American radio – Rock was
heavily promoted with no major black videos being aired in regular rotation.
"Super
Freak" was released about five months after MTV went on the air, and
Rick James made a slick video for the song hoping it would get some spins on
the network. At the time, however, MTV refused to play videos by black artists,
and they rejected this clip, continuing to feed America a steady stream of rock
and EuroPop.
This refusal to play black music was a holdover from radio station programming,
where conventional wisdom was that you would lose your white listeners if you
played black music.
•Rick
James video presented a hyper-sexualised black male who white women found
attractive.
•Rick
James’ subliminal media language of “the “Black Buck” was not suited to white
white producers.
Stereotypes of Black Men in Popular Media
> black
sidekick
of a white protagonist (secondary
role)
> the
token
black person,
> the
comedic
relief,
> the
athlete,
> the
over-sexed
ladies’ man,
> the
absentee
father or,
> the
violent
black man as drug-dealing criminal and gangster thug.
Black racial stereotypes:
Musicians
–
jazz, hip-hop and soul
Sportsmen
and
women
Comedians
Criminals
Socially
dysfunctional
Prostitute/sexually
promiscuous
The stud/pimp
Video and Lyrics Analysis:
I agree with the interpretations given, especially the idea that an artist creates a song (or an author creates a poem) so that the audience can identify with it personally. Additionally, I would like to suggest an interpretation about the lines, "Mother always told me be careful of who you love, and be careful of what you do 'cause the lie bcomes the truth." The couple danced, the guy was thrilled to be her choice (because "Every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one"). And maybe he led others to believe (bragged to his guy friends) that they'd had sex. Maybe he was infatuated with her for a bit, but wised up quickly. When he got wise to the type of woman she was, he "dumped" her ("don't go around breaking young girls' hearts"). She was furious since she wasn't used to this treatment; SHE had always been the one to break off relationships. So she ends up pregnant by another guy (on purpose?) to get back at him. (The well-known line "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" comes to mind.) And now "the lie became the truth" because he'd have to try to admit he never did have sex with her when earlier he bragged about it. Everyone believes the woman (after all she is someone that seems to hold sway over others), even the guy's girlfriend is distrustful; and the picture "proves" the baby is his. One theme appears to suggest "be careful who you hang around and careful of what you say." It all may come back to haunt you.
This song is about a crazed fan who had a baby and was so obsessed with Jackson that she believed it was his. She sent packages and photos of the child to him, eventually sending him a gun and ordering him to commit suicide at the same time as she would kill her baby and then herself, so that they could be "together as a family". The police tracked down the woman, saved the baby and proved that it was not Jackson's. He was so disturbed by the whole affair that he wrote a song about it; one of his biggest hits to date.
Research:
> Jackson's all-encompassing appeal was something that had never happened before in the history of pop music: Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beatles were preposterously famous in their time, but their appeal was still basically limited to white people. Michael Jackson, during his Thriller LP era, had everybody talking about him.
> Cute and cuddly as front man/child for the Jackson Five, Jackson had been trying for several years to reintroduce himself to a public that was ill prepared to view him as anything other than a charming has-been. To shatter this perception, Jackson created the flashy, enigmatic, vaguely dangerous persona who appeared in Billie Jean, Beat It and Bad. At a time when most music videos were either primitive or stupid, Jackson made a video that was clever, original, visually opulent and mysterious.
> It was the first time that a song had been upstaged by the performance of a song, creating a peculiar situation where no one really had any interest in hearing the song unless they could simultaneously watch the song being performed.
> It was recorded on a specially designed set to capture the muted sound of the snare drum that Jackson insisted upon. It was produced by the legendary Quincy Jones, who wanted Jackson to change the name of the song and also to shorten the improbably lengthy 29-second introduction, during which Jackson does not actually sing.
> This song is about a girl who claimed that Jackson was the father of her child. Jackson based it on a woman who used to stalk him, writing him letters about a son she thought was his. Jackson rarely spoke about this woman, but he had a very hard time dealing with this unwanted attention, and he became more reclusive as a result. The song was his way of expressing his feelings without addressing her directly.
> According to Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 songs, Jackson came up with the song's rhythm track on his home drum machine and nailed the vocals in one take.
> Jackson's "Billie Jean" video was the first to make heavy rotation, and more black faces started appearing on the network soon after, notably Prince. MTV was accused of racism in this era, notably by Rick James, whose "Super Freak" clip was rejected by the network.
> Directed by Steve Barron, who also directed Electric Dreams, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Coneheads.
Representation: Teenage Star, love, romance
Discuss aspects of the video’s (media language) present Jackson as an American Teenage Star/Heart throb.
The way that Michael Jackson stands in this particular part of the video, the way that he is dressed and the way that he portrays himself to the audience could present Jackson as an American Teenage Star or Heart throb. Relatable clothing, could symbolise the clothes worn at prom. Prom could have connotations of romance.
The way that Michael Jackson is able to dance within this video may be appealing to a young female audience and present him as an American Teenage Star interested in love and romance.
To what extent is the video sexualised, identify examples
The video is sexualised to an extent and this is shown through the dance moves that Michael Jackson uses in the video.
The video is sexualised to an extent and this is shown through the use of the bed, which may have connotations of sex and sexualisation throughout the video.
To what extent does the video present Jackson as the “hero”? How does Jackson avoid over-sexualised references. Learners may refer to the “foil” in making this comparison.
The 'foil' in this particular music video is the detective. In this music video, the detective is hidden by the shadows, making him look sinister. This could represent the paparazzi trying to gain private information from Michael Jackson.
discuss how Jackson’s video consolidates the representation of “talented musician/dancer”
Jackson portrays the representation of talented musician/dancer as in many of his videos, he is able to demonstrate his dance skills.
